Clutch plays hurt Red Hawks in playoff loss

If a handful of plays had gone the other way, perhaps the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau football team would be preparing for another game this week. As it was, G-E-T fell behind 26-0 in the first half and lost, 34-21, to Stanley-Boyd last Friday night.

S-B’s first two touchdowns came on fourth downs and its next two came after G-E-T turnovers deep in their own territory late in the first half. The Red Hawks outscored the Orioles 21-8 in the second half, but the final outcome was never in doubt. 

Third-seeded S-B (8-2 on the season) will play at (2) Northwestern in their Division Five bracket this Friday. 

G-E-T was seeded sixth in the bracket finished its season with a 4-6 record. The Red Hawks will graduate 10 seniors, but have a group of 20 juniors ready to replace their leadership. 

S-B 34 G-E-T 21

The Red Hawks had chances to get stops early, but just couldn’t come up with big plays when they most needed them.

S-B’s first drive began near midfield and they moved the ball inside the red zone thanks to a long run by Rudy Kletsch and a personal foul called on G-E-T, which put S-B at the 14-yard line.

G-E-T’s defense held strong as S-B lost yardage on two runs before Landon Karlen was tackled five yards short of the first down marker on third-and-12. Deep in their own territory, the Orioles dropped back to pass on fourth down. As quarterback Carter Isenberger rolled to his left, Kletsch sprung free in the middle of the end zone and the two connected for an eight-yard touchdown pass. 

The two-point conversion pass was intercepted, but the Orioles were on the board first with 7:28 left in the first quarter.

Two Kyle Seiling runs picked up a first down for G-E-T before Taylor Haney converted a fourth-and-one with a run up the middle down to the S-B 40. A sack on third-and-10 forced a G-E-T punt, which landed just one yard beyond the original line of scrimmage.

With good field position, the S-B offense went to work as Jake Lagrander broke off a 29-yard run. Karlen caught a pass down to the G-E-T six, but it looked like consecutive penalties might save the day for G-E-T. Two straight offensive penalties put S-B back to the 26, they gained nine yards on the next three plays, but faced a fourth-and-goal from the 17 as the first quarter ended. 

After the teams flipped sides of the field, Isenberger lofted a jump ball for Madden Mahr in the end zone. The S-B receiver — who had more than 900 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns this season — out-jumped G-E-T’s Riley Hammel and came down with the ball in the end zone. The point after kick gave S-B a 13-0 lead four seconds into the second quarter.

While G-E-T’s offense struggled, its defense held strong for most of the rest of the game. The defensive unit seemed to have fully adjusted to S-B’s no-huddle, hurry-up spread offense. 

G-E-T forced a punt on S-B’s next possession then Oliver Remus intercepted Isenberger on a deep pass at the 10-yard line. 

That’s when it started to unravel for G-E-T.

After two runs picked up a first down at the 21, a botched handoff put G-E-T behind. They were forced to pass on a third-and-15 and Carson Hodowanic intercepted Ben Hansen at the 34.

S-B faced a third-and-five before calling an end around to Karlen, who got around the edge and went untouched for a 29-yard touchdown. The point after made the score 20-0 with 1:13 remaining.

The Red Hawks looked to run the ball to get to halftime, but a fumble on the second play of their next possession gave the ball right back to the Orioles at the 21-yard line with 35 seconds left.

It took just one play for S-B to strike again as Kletsch ran down the seam uncontested and caught a touchdown pass. The point after kick was missed, but S-B took a 26-0 lead into the intermission.

The Red Hawks regrouped at halftime and came out strong in the second half. 

G-E-T’s defense forced a three-and-out on S-B’s first possession and the punt gave the Red Hawks the ball at the S-B 46. 

Max Knapmiller got through a hole for a 17-yard run on the second play of the drive before Carter Repaal ran for 17 yards on a third-and-five play. Knapmiller then finished the drive with a four-yard touchdown. Domanick Knott’s point after made the score 26-7 with about eight minutes left in the third.

The teams exchanged punts before S-B found the end zone again, this time a one-yard run by Jake Lagrander and the two-point run by Karlene made the score 34-7.

G-E-T fired back as Ben Hansen connected with Jackson Burns for a 56-yard completion. Knapmiller added his second touchdown of the game, surging in from a yard out before Knott’s point after kick made the score 34-14 at the end of the third.

G-E-T’s defense forced another punt at the start of the fourth quarter this time it was downed at the two-yard line. 

The Red Hawks rushing attack moved the ball out from the shadow of their own goals line as the team picked up a first down at the 12 and another at the 30 before a sack pushed them back.

On second-and-17, Hansen fired deep and found Repaal behind the defense. Repaal shook one S-B defender and ran for a 77-yard touchdown. Knott’s point after made the score 34-21 with about eight minutes left in the game.

G-E-T was in business again when it recovered a fumble at midfield with 7:17 remaining in the game, but they couldn’t capitalize. 

The Red Hawks picked up a first down inside the S-B 40, but Hansen was sacked on a third-and-11 play and again on fourth-and-28.

S-B slowed down and ran the clock down to 30 seconds before giving it back to G-E-T without enough time to make up the two-touchdown difference.

As they have been all season, S-B was balanced. Isenberger passed for 181 yards and three touchdowns and the team had 168 rushing yards — including 128 by Karlen. Karlen also had 88 receiving yards. 

G-E-T had a season-high in passing yards with 136 as Hansen completed three-of-10 passes. Knapmiller led the team with 92 rushing yards on 23 attempts. 

G-E-T

Rushing (att./yds.) — Knapmiller 23/92 Seiling 15/51 Repaal 1/18 Haney 6/11 O. Jimenez 1/5 Lewis 1/3 Hansen 8/-27

Receiving (rec./yds.) — Repaal 1/77 Burns 1/56 Knapmiller 1/3

Passing (comp./att./yds.) — Hansen 3/10/136

Defense (tackles/assists) — Knott 2/2 Pickering 1/0 Christian 0/1 Hammel 5/1 Johnson 1/0 Repaal 4/1 Lewis 5/3 Seiling 4/4 Halverson 0/1 Haney 8/0 C. Jimenez 3/0 Hansen 1/0 O. Jimenez 6/3 Wieczorek 0/2 urns 2/2 Ruesgen 0/1 Remus 4/0